Dwayne Waden (Screenshot from CBS affiliate WFMY-TV/YouTube)
A North Carolina pastor allegedly tried shoving a McDonald’s cook into a fryer after the pastor’s wife, a manager in training, had called him saying she was being disrespected.
Dwayne Waden, 57, faces charges of assault in the attack on the 34-year-old cook.
The drama happened on Dec. 28 at the eatery at 2738 S. Main Street in High Point. Waden’s wife called him, saying she was being disrespected.
A police report obtained by Law&Crime alleging asphyxiation, that the victim was held down and was hit and struck, outlines the allegations.
Witnesses said the suspect came into the McDonald’s, walked around the counter, and placed his hands around the neck of the victim, pushing his head toward the deep fryer, the report said.
“The offender also punched the offender several times on the face, and did not stop until several employees pulled the offender off of the victim,” the document read. “The victim suffered a large contusion to the forehead and right eye, along with scratches on his neck.”
“I just got assaulted,” the victim, hospitalized after the attack, reportedly in a 911 call obtained by local Fox affiliate WGHP. “I was hit in my face several times, and I have asthma, so I’m having an asthma attack.”
Waden was arrested. Restaurant video captured the incident, police said.
Freed from custody on bond, Waden described to local CBS affiliate WFMY-TV how he said it went down after the worker came up from behind, “mouthing off at me and disrespecting my wife.”
“He got in my face, and when he got in my face, I pushed him and when I pushed him, he grabbed me,” Waden told the station. “So when he grabbed me, you know, we went to tussling and stuff of that nature and the floor was real slippery. So, you know, I kind of bear-hugged him, and when I bear-hugged him, he punched me in the back of my head. So when he punched me in the back of my head, I commenced the swinging.”
In a statement, McDonald’s said the pastor’s wife is no longer employed at the franchise, and “The safety and security of our employees and customers is our top priority.”
In an interview, Waden’s wife told WGHP that she had called her husband, a pastor at Elevated Life International Ministries, telling him her employees had been directing expletives at her. He arrived at the restaurant and told her to gather her belongings and clock out. He denied pushing the worker’s head into a fryer, the station reported.
Waden is set to appear in court on Jan. 22.
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